App Downloads Based Mostly on Recommendations, Study Says

Mobile users download apps based on recommendations from other users, not brand recognition, a Harris Interactive poll has found.

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Mobile users download apps based on recommendations from other users, not brand recognition, according to a Harris Interactive poll.

The study, commissioned by app maker EffectiveUI, polled 781 adult mobile app users and found that 38 percent aren't happy with most of the branded apps they download. Twenty-nine percent of the apps users downloaded were based on recommendations from other users, it said, and 66 percent said they purchased an app because of a review.

The study found that users value a positive experience with an app over brand name. Close to a third (32 percent) of respondents reported telling others about a negative experience with an app, and 13 percent said that a bad experience with a certain brand's app caused them to avoid purchasing another app under the same brand.

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"The results of our survey are quite telling, and further proof that organizations must invest more in the user experience of their mobile apps, rather than rely solely on the brand," Rebecca Flavin, EffectiveUI chief executive, said in a statement. "Mobile applications are the surefire way to extend a brand. It's time for organizations to understand how to fully leverage the mobile channel and optimize a user-centered approach to drive adoption, as well as reinforce and drive brand loyalty."

According to the study, 73 percent thought that a company's app should be more user-friendly than its Web site. It found that users take the following criteria into consideration when downloading an app: 74 percent think an app should be to be easy to use, 75 percent think it should do exactly what they want or need it to do, and 57 percent think it should be well designed.

There is a growing number of apps on the market. Three weeks after opening, the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace had already surpassed 1,000 apps. The Android Market now has more than 100,000 apps, and some say Apple's app store has crossed the 300,000 app marker. Reports have also surfaced that suggest that HTC is planning its own app store.

Leslie Horn joined the PCMag team as a news reporter in the fall of 2010. She covers a wide range of topics from digital media to the latest Apple rumor. After graduating with a degree in Magazine Journalism from the University of Missouri, she wrote for Out & About, a travel guide in coastal Maine. One of her favorite reporting experiences was covering the 2008 Olympics from Beijing. She travels every chance she gets, and recently spent time backpacking along the coast of Brazil. Though she...
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